(This article is not discussing how audio levels impact plugins, or what happens at an output leading to a d/a converter. This article is discussing the linear behavior of audio passing between channels within our DAW.) What you’re seeing in the picture: Going Up Taking a test tone, calibrated to -18dbfs Boosting that test tone to +762db of gain above … Read More
What Happens At The -18 “Sweet Spot”?
Common advice is to “gain stage” your tracks by calibrating them to -18. People often leave out whether they mean -18 dBFS or -18 dBVU, both of which would yield vastly different levels depending on the source material. But why choose a calibration point to begin with? Here’s Matthew Weiss from The Pro Audio Files describing the differences between VU … Read More
Why I use Expanders on DI’s.
Picture 1. In the first picture, you’ll see 4 colored bands on the analyzer. The red band is the noise floor of my interface, and it’s reading down around -110dbfs. The dark orange band at the very bottom is where the expander is pushing that noise floor to, down around -170dbfs. I usually use HoRNet Track Utility to bring the … Read More
Do we really need more 1176 plugin models?
Back in the day, we had hardware. Since then, we started using software. Over the years, we’ve become better and better at developing this software so that it fools the trained ear into thinking it’s hardware. We make it move, overload, have noise, and try to recreate the exact sonic imprint of the hardware. We’ve put a ton of time … Read More
Gain Staging: What to know, & why you shouldn’t stress too much about it!
FULL TRANSCRIPT BELOW: There’s a lot of emphasis placed on the importance of gain staging within the audio community, and while it is important to understand, it’s also exaggerated as the lynchpin between a good mixer and a bad mixer. Personally I would argue that monitoring is a much higher priority, so lets spend a few moments discussing what … Read More